Kathy McBride, center, Councilwoman at Large, speaks at a Trenton City Council press conference held at City Hall on Thursday, December 6, 2012. In back are Phyllis Holly-Ward, left, Councilwoman at Large and George Muschal, South Ward councilman.
(Michael Mancuso/The Times)

TRENTON — Councilwoman Kathy McBride has taken to the airwaves to ask Gov. Chris Christie to provide more law enforcement help for the city as residents suffers through a crime wave.

In a TV ad first broadcast late last week and running until the end of this week, McBride stands amid tombstones and asks if Christie will allow Trenton to become a graveyard.

"If you cannot protect the seven square miles of Trenton, how can you be trusted with our nation’s security?” McBride asks Christie in the commercial, referencing the governor's potential presidential aspirations for 2016.

McBride founded Mothers Against Violence after her son was murdered in 1993. She was elected to council in 2010. In an interview today she discussed the crime that hs engulfed the city in 2013, its deadliest year on record.

"My concern is, we need some assistance and we need to be looking at a long-term strategy, and not a band-aid fix for the situation," McBride said.

McBride has for months asked for Christie to deputize out-of-state law enforcement officers to patrol Trenton on a volunteer basis, as he did for other areas following Hurricane Sandy. The deputies could surge in and out of Trenton at the governor's discretion, McBride said.

McBride has reached out to Christie's office but says she has not received a response.

Acting Attorney General John Hoffman responded to the surge in homicides by ordering the State Police into the city Aug. 15. The troopers are in the capital on their fourth deployment in 18 months, but in higher numbers than ever before.

The governor's press office could not immediately be reached for comment. McBride welcomed the State Police help, but said officials have announced that the troopers will probably only stay through the end of September.

"Any method of assistance is welcome, but if you only come for two weeks or three weeks, when you're not here the problem is still here," she said.

The ads, running mostly on cable channels, were paid for by donations to McBride's reelection campaign fund. The election will be held next year at the same time as the mayoral race.

McBride has been mentioned as a possible candidate in the already-crowded mayoral field, but said the ads are not the opening salvo for a mayoral run.

"Right now, it's the beginning of trying to have some dialogue with the governor," she said.